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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



The Shades of 
Shakespeare's Women 

An Entertainment in Ten Scenes for Two 
Males and Eleven Females 

\ 

By A. LAURIE WEST 



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Price 25 Cents 



EDGAR S. WERNER 

108 East i6th St. 

New York 






UPRlOtft!*] 



Copyright, i8 94 , i8q6, by EDGAR S. WERNER 



COSTUMES. 

T^HE costumes can be copied from the pictures in* 
-*- any large edition of Shakespeare's works. The 
following are recommended : 

Ariel — White tarlatan, white stockings, no shoes. 
The dress is made with low neck and short sleeves. 
Gauzy wings. Hair flowing. Very small girl. 

Miranda — Flowing robe of white. Hair flowing,, 
garland of leaves on head. 

Portia — Black or red gown with flowing sleeves; 
black or red cap on head. 

Desdemona — White dress. Hair flowing. 

Juliet — Full evening dress, with train, bare neck and 
arms. Hair caught with jewels, and gems on neck and 
arms. 

Cordelia — Sober colors, plainly made dress. 

Katharine — Gay, flashy colors; a bright hat with 
many feathers. 

Ophelia — Long, clinging white robe. Hair flowing; 
garland of flowers on head. 

Lady Macbeth — Dark garnet silk, full waist, long 
train ; flowing sleeves ; jewels. Hair after the style of 
a Grecian knot. 

Witches — Long gray robes. \ Hair hanging in strings 
about the faces, and gray mantles on heads. 

Prologue — A boy about twelve years of age. Knee 
breeches of black velvet, silk stockings, slippers; full 
front of scarlet silk and jacket of black velvet; bright 
colored scarf attached to shoulders and extending be- 
hind on the floor. 

The characters should be chosen with reference to 
their looking the parts. 






5" 

THE SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 



By A. LAURIE WEST. 



CHARACTERS. 

Hi 

Ariel. Miranda. 

Portia. Desdemona. 

Juliet. Cordelia. 

Katharine, the Shrew. Ophelia. 

Lady Macbeth. Witches. 

Prologue. 

I sy. .._,. „ ' n r i ses ^ Enter Prologue, manuscript in hand. 

Prologue. Now we know that you have read, 
>l may, perhaps, have heard instead, 
Both one and all, the stories told 
By one Shakespeare, a bard of old. 
In ,asy London town he dwelt, 
And often to Queen Bess he knelt. 
Not a periwig-pated fellow he, 
Though a Falstaff he could often be. 
On pleasant nights, his plays to hear, 
The lords and nobles crowded near. 
And loud the crowd did laugh and yell, 
For comedy he acted well, 
And Will himself did oft essay 
His own productions there to play. 
Men knew the actor then as great ; 
Man finds no writer now his mate. 
Old yEschylus was not his peer, 
And Sophocles approached not near 
To Shakespeare's wit and brilliant art. 



4 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 

In tragic and in comic part, 

An ideal world he did not give ; 

His men and women breathe and live. 

You feel that you Macbeth have known, 

When in his vivid drama shown ; 

And Dromios live and move to- day 

In no less ludicrous display ; 

And brilliant Portias yet arise 

To speak their minds in judgments wise,. 

And Kate the Shrew! ah, who shall say 

There is not many a one to-day? 

And well, indeed, he knew the art 

Of laying bare the human heart ; 

Of woman's heart, that wondrous thing r 

He learned in accents sweet to sing. 

His women, whether bright or bland, 

He drew them with a master-hand. 

To prove that he was just and wise, 

One at a time, their shades shall rise, 

And each will tell you, as she goes, 

The burden of her life and woes; 

Or, in a lighter, happier strain, 

Will show you all of pleasure's train. 

These beings from the Avon Bard 

I will not longer now retard ; 

But, bowing after my essay, 

Will bid them come in their array. 
Curtain. 
[ Curtain rises, disclosing Ariel perched on a moss- 
covered bank.] 
Ariel [sings'] : 



SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN 



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[Toward close of song Ariel #Z^s &5#i^ w^A dainty 
step. Enter Miranda while Ariel is singing, and 
stands at rear until finish; then comes forward. 
Ariel kneels (ft Miranda's feet.'] 

Miranda. All, my dainty Ariel, you recall those an- 
cient times, 



8 



SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 



When, with my father Prospero, we lived alone 
upon our magic isle. 

Dost thou remember how thou used to serve him 
there? 

And how, when tempest- tossed a ship came near 
the shore, 

How thou, at my father's just command, 

Sought and saved those on the storm- tossed wave, 

And brought to me, snatched from the bellowing 
sea, 

The handsome, manly Ferdinand? 

And how before this time I. had no man e'er 
seen, 

Save only on father's aged face I gazed? 

And O how beautiful I thought the noble Fer- 
dinand ! 

Ariel [rises]. Ay, I remember, and this is the song I 
sung. 

[Skips about singing. Miranda sits on bank mean- 
while. ] 




SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 



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SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE "S WOMEN* 
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SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 11 

[Miranda remains seated. Ariel reclines near.'] 
[Miranda. With rapture I cried out : 
' ' A brave new world 

That has such people in it ! " 

Dainty Ariel, no man can say Miranda's life was 
not a happy one. 

From the abode of Sycorax and Caliban I went 
to dwell 

In lifelong peace with Ferdinand at Naples. 

And thou, sweet sprite, deservest richest bless- 
ings 

For the service thou has done Miranda and her 
father, Prospero! 
{Holds posing to form tableau.] 
Curtain. 

{Curtain rises. Enter Portia with law booh. Small 
table and chair at hand.] 

Portia. " The quality of mercy is not strained, 
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath ; it is twice blessed ; 
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes ; 
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes 
The throned monarch better than his crown ; 
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, 
The attribute to awe and majesty, 
"Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings. 
But mercy is above this sceptred sway ; 
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings ; 
It is an attribute to God Himself 
And earthly power doth then show likest God's, 



12 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 

When mercy seasons justice. " [Sits, lays book 
open on table.] 

You know me all. From my palace Belmont 
Forth I went that justice might be done, 
And soon unto the Court of Yenice came ; 
There, where upon the marble floor 
And whetting keen his knife, 
The fierce, vindictive Shy lock sat ; 
And with a scowl of horrid hate, he cried : 
" I'll have my bond ! my pound of flesh ! 
There is no power in the tongue of man to alter 

me; 
I stay here on my bond !" [Rises.] 
And when I, turning, told Antonio 
He must prepare his bosom for the knife, 
That Shylock then next to his heart might cut 
A pound of flesh to satisfy the bond, 
That son of Israel cried in fiendish glee : 
' ' A Daniel come to judgment ! yea, a Daniel ! 
O wise young judge, how I do honor thee ! ' ' 
But then the mighty balance of the law was 

swayed, 
And I the statute showed him where 'twas 

proved [points to open booh.] 
A pound of flesh he could, indeed, have cut, 
But not one drop of blood should shed ; 
And if the balance swayed, 
And tipped the beam beyond a pound, 
His life should be the forfeit ! 
His fierce, vindictive spirit then was broke 
And vengeance cried he for no more. 



SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 13 

My husband's truest reverence there I gained, 
And his loved friend I saved from fearful death, 
Who am I? Some have called me 
Shakespeare's noblest woman. 
What need to tell you I am Portia! 
Curtain. 

[Curtain rises, showing Desdemona half reclining 
on a couch.] 
Desdemona. I loved the Moor, Othello. Brave he 

was and bold. 
How he held me spellbound with stories of his 

life ! 
For he had fought in bloody wars and been in 

distant lands, 
And many a combat boldly waged against the 

murderous Turks. 
Through all those long, sweet summer days, by 

my father's side 
I listened, rapt in wonder, till pity stole my 

heart [rises and comes do ton front], 
And I, fair Desdemona, became Othello's wife. 
But changes came. So slyly a serpent entered 

Eden, 
A serpent coiled, Iago, with fangs prepared to 

strike, 
And to the " green-eyed monster " la helpless 

victim fell. 
Othello watched me keenly with eager, jealous 

eyes, 
And seemed, indeed, to find a cause for lover's 

righteous wrath. 



14 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 

1 ' For trifles light as air 

Are, to the jealous, confirmation strong 

As proof of holy writ. ' ' 

But I no wrong had done him. I to him had 
been true. [Sits on edge of couch.] 

But he was blind with jealous rage, and fiercer 
grew each day. 

At last, in frenzied madness, he sought me when 
asleep. 

And there he crushed my young life out while I 
lay happy, dreaming; 

And never more to life I woke, but passed to- 
death's deep slumber. [Reclines grace- 
fully/ remains still for tableau effect.] 

Curtain. 

[Curtain rises. Juliet on balcony or at casement; 
pensive attitude • sighing.] 
Juliet. Ah, me! 

' ' O Romeo, Borneo ! wherefore art thou,. 
Borneo ! 

Deny thy father and refuse thy name ; 

Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, 

And I'll no longer be a Capulet. 

O be some other name ! 

What's in a name? that which we call a rose 

By any other name would smell as sweet ; 

So Borneo would, were he not Borneo called,. 

Betain that dear perfection which he owes 

"Without that title. Borneo, doff thy name ' r 

And for* thy name which is no part of thee,. 



SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 15 

Take all myself." 

I loved whom I should not, alas ! 

My Romeo was a Montague and I a Capnlet. 

My father knew no friendship with the noble 

house of Montague, 
And we were forbid to love — aye, to see, to 

speak. 
But love cares not for barriers, and laughs at 

wisest caution. 
Though noble counts knelt at my feet, and gave 

me boundless homage, 
My heart turned from them all and listened to 

my Romeo, in stolen interviews. 
Bright was the night, as I remember well, 
And brilliant shone the moon. 
He said 'twas sick and pale with grief 
That I, her handmaid, wast more fair than she. 
He called me the pure, fair sun, 
And bade me rise and kill the envious moon. 
I leaned o'er the balcony, knew not that he was 

there 
Till startled by his voice. 

sweet, sweet voice ! Methinks I hear it yet ! 
My Romeo was there and heard my low com- 
plaint. 

And when he said he'd prove his love, 
He'd swear by yonder blessed moon, 

1 cried in sudden, rapturous bliss : 

"O swear not by the moon, the inconstant 

moon, 
That monthly changes in her circled orb, 



16 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN, 

Lest that thy love prove likewise variable. 

Swear not at all ; 

Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, 

Which is the god of my idolatry, 

And I'll believe thee." 

A very ecstasy — such was my love, 

With warmth of fervid Italy's sun-kissed clime. 

He wished himself the glove upon my hand ; 

He would have been a bird that I might watch 

and keep. 
Ah, dearest dream ! too sweet to last ! 
O great, ecstatic bliss ! 
But e'er our marriage well was o'er, 
Dire fate sent fast her cruel shafts. 
My cousin Tybalt killed, and thou, thou from 

Yerona banished? 
Ah, my sweet one, 'twere better far to die with 

thee 
Than live another's bride! 
And 'twere, indeed, the hand of love that took 

my life away — 
My own right hand, that I in death your bride 

should be. 
For I could live no more and thou wert dead 
Than moves yon circling moon without the 

earth ! 

Curtain. 
[ Curtain rises. Cokdeli a kneeling in prayer. Rises. ] 
Cordelia [with grief- stricken voice]. Have you e'er 

known a father's love, and 
Tell me, have you known his curse? 






SHADES OF SHAKEPEARE'S WOMEN. 17 

Have you e'er heard the flatterer's tongue oiled 

well in getting gain? 
Have you e'er felt ingratitude flow from the 

flatterer's heart ? 
Have you e'er heard a daughter curse her father's 

hoary head? 
And hear that father in wild, bitter grief cry out : 
" How sharper than a serpent's tooth to have a 

thankless child ! ' ' 
I have heard it, seen it all; have had a father's 

curse. 
I've heard two sisters speak with flattering, oily 

tongues, 
And vow they loved my father with a love sur- 
passing speech, 
And in their hearts they loved not, nor spoke 

one word of truth, 
But wanted all his kingdom and wanted all his 

wealth. 
For he was Lear, of Britain, and mighty in his 

time, 
But age had wrought its changes and made him 

old and weak. 
And when he asked, I told him I loved as daugh- 
ter should, 
And could not love him more than that, as my 

bold sisters said. 
He sent me forth with curses that cut me to the 

heart, 
And I sought my new home sadly, without a. 

father's love. 



18 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE S WOMEN 

And what did they, my sisters, do when all the 

wealth was theirs? 
They turned their father out-of-doors into the 

stormy night, 
With lightnings flashing far and near and rolling 

thunder crash. 
He wandered on 'mid storm and wind with bare, 

gray, dripping locks. 
O listen ! will ye listen ! a king out in the storm ! 
A father wandering lonely ; and by his children 

spurned ! 
And when at last I found him, he was demented, 

wild; 
And then he cursed those daughters who said 

they loved him well, 
And prayed that Heaven would send them a fit- 
ting punishment. 
And then he called Cordelia, me, his youngest 

child, 
And when he fain would kneel to me I stopped 

him, raised him up, 
And told him that I loved him with all my first, 

best love. 
Ah, how it pained my very soul to see him 

treated thus ! 
His limbs were weak and tottering, his aged life 

near spent; 
His dim eyes hardly knew me ; he scarce could 

see my face, 
But said my voice was "low and sweet, an ex- 
cellent thing in woman." 



SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 1£ 

base and thankless daughters, know ye not that 

it is writ — 
Ravens shall pluck out the eyes of an ungrateful 
child? [Remains still, with eyes directed 
to heaven.] 

Curtain. 
[Curtain rises. Enter Katharine, the Shrew. She 
comes dashing noisily on to the stage.] 
Katharine [with great animation.] I'm called — ah, 
never mind my name; 
Most men have called me Katharine. 
But this one thing I now can say — 
No woman was e'er wooed as I. 
You've heard of Petruchio? Ah, well he came. 

1 vow I had not seen the man before, 

And when I met him, my feelings ruffled up. 

(I had just crushed my music master's head 

And chased my sister in an angry fit ; 

For you must know that I was a spoiled child !) 

Well, as I said, Petruchio from Yerona came, 

In this wise he'd meet me, so he said : 

" I'll, woo her with some spirit' when she comes. 

Say that she rail; why, then I'll tell her plain 

She sings as sweetly as a nightingale ; 

Say that she frown ; I'll say she looks as clear 

As morning roses newly washed with dew ; 

Say she be mute, and will not speak a word ; 

Then I'll commend her volubility, 

And say she uttereth piercing eloquence ; 

If she do bid me pack, I'll give her thanks 

As though she bid me stay by her a week ; 



20 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 

If she deny to wed, I'll crave the day 
When I shall ask the bans, and when be mar- 
ried." 
And I, in bold astonishment, opened wide my 

eyes, 
And bade him shut his mouth, and said he was 

a jade ! 
And when he vowed he'd marry me, whether I 

would or not ! 
Such a wild torrent of words as I poured forth 
Could well have outdone Termagant. 
And there he stood unmoved as stone, 
And when I stormed wildest, called me u gentle 

Kate!" 
And said that on the coming Sunday we would 

wed — 
I said I'd sooner see him hanged! 
Well — but I did on Sunday marry him, 
And then he said he'd tame the shrew. 
And — well — he did ! 
If I but one discordant word let fly, 
He'd bid my supper from before my eyes be 

borne, 
And trampled under foot my latest hat, 
And all the time called me ' ' his darling Kate ! ' ' 
His ' ' sweetest one, ' ' and * ' precious girl ! ' ' 
Well, I at last in low submission bowed. 
(One cannot starve howe'er so great the will.) 
He'd look up to the moon and say : 
* * The sun is glaring bright to-night. ' ' 
And when I'd dare to venture 'twas the moon, 



SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 21 

He'd swear and tear and vow his word should be 

obeyed, 
Until I humbly said the sun shone brightly in 

the sky. 
Ah, well ! I'm tamed, no doubt of that ! 
Why, when I to my home returned, 
My father, even, knew me not, and vowed I was 

not Kate, 
For I was an obedient spouse. 
And all the neighbors, wondering, came to see 

the transformed shrew. 
If there's a Kate within these walls, you've 

learned, Petruchio, how to tame her! 

[Folds hands; looks down meekly.] 
Curtain. 
[Curtain rises. Ophelia enters abstractedly y tearing 
flowers to pieces and dropping them on to the floor.] 
Ophelia [with sweet, sad voice and expression]. " O 

what a noble mind is here o'erthrown! 
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, 

sword ; 
The expectancy and rose of the fair state, 
The glass of fashion and the mould of form, 
The observed of all observers, quite, quite down ! 
And I, of ladies most deject and wretched, 
That sucked the honey of his music vows. 
Now see that noble and most sovereign reason, 
Like sweet bells, jangled out of tune and harsh ! 
That unmatched form and feature of blown 

youth 
Blasted with ecstasy. O woe is me ! 



SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 

To have seen what I have seen, see what I see ! ' r 
Did he not write me lines of love ! 
Did he not give me vows of eternal constancy? 
Here, let me but read again what he has writ. 

[ Takes paper from bosom and reads. Sits on 

a grassy mound.] 
4 ' Doubt that the stars are fire ; 
Doubt that the sun doth move ; 
Doubt truth to be a liar, 
But never doubt I love. ' ' 
And I listened to the noble Dane, 
And gave him all my soul's devotion. 
I gave no love to him unbidden, 
But modestly my heart-throbs beat in unison with 

his. 
And then, when on him all my being bent, 
And every hour my whole heart with him stayed. 

[rises in ecstasy] 
He came one day, he came by madness seized, 
And then he told me there — 
He told me there — he loved me not ! [ Crushes 

and drops paper.] 
And bade me seek a convent wall! 
O what a noble mind was there o'erthrown ! 
And then — what happened next? 
In a frenzied, maddened fit, my father Hamlet 

slew [in frenzy], 
And then — [kneels over an imaginary grave, 

singing :] 



SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 23 

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" Fare you well, my dove!" 

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I looked for flowers with which his shroud to 
strew — see my pretty flowers? [Joyfully.] 

There reaching on a willow that grows aslant a 
brook, 

For crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples T 

Then an envious sliver broke 

And down I fell into the weeping brook. 

And there I lay singing snatches of old songs, 

For they said that I was mad, my reason was de- 
throned. [Abstractedly.] 

And then my garments drew poor Ophelia — 

Me — poor Ophelia, down into the brook's clear 
wave, 

But I cared not — 

[Breaks off suddenly and begins to walk and sing.] 



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[Stops and turns to audience.'] See my flowers ? [Plucks 
them to pieces.] 

"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; 



28 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 

pray you, love, remember ! [Hands flow- 
ers around to imaginary persons.} 

And there is pansies, that's for thoughts. There's 
fennel for you, and columbines, there's one 
for you, and here's some for me; we may 
call it herb of grace o' Sundays, — you may 
wear your rue with a difference. There's 
a daisy ; I would give you some violets, but 
they withered all when my father died 
They say he made a good end. [ With great 
grief [Sings : 

" For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy." 

[Goes off dancing with glee, pulling the flowers to pieces 
and dropping them]. 

Curtain. 
[Curtain rises on Lady Macbeth standing facing audi- 
ence, and the three Witches in the background, holding 
staves in their hands, eyes peering into a large pot.] 
Lady Macbeth. " That which hath made them drunk 
hath made me bold ; 
What hath quenched them hath given me fire. 

Hark ! Peace ! 
It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman, 
Which gives the stern 'st good night. 
Hark ! I laid their daggers ready, 
He could not miss them. Had he not resembled 
My father as he slept, I had done't." 
And then he came, the deed was done ! 
But wild and piteous was his eye, for this he said : 
' i Methought I heard a voice cry, ' Sleep no 
more! 



SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 20 

Macbeth doth murder sleep ! ' ' ' 

And then a wilder horror seized him and fren- 
zied, he cried out — 

Ah, methinks I hear him now : 

u Whence is that knocking? 

How is't with me, when every noise appalls? 

What hands are here! Ha! they pluck out 
mine eyes ! 

Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood 

Clean from my hand ? ' ' 

And I, 'twas I that urged him to the deed! 

I urged him to the deed that cost eternal peace 
of mind ! 

Had not the three Weird Sisters told that he 

The King of Scots should be? 

That faithful prophecy it was that planted in my 
breast 

The dire seed of ambition. Then L had no rest 

Till Duncan, a kinsman and a guest, was slain, 

And Banquo's murder followed. 

Ah, I see yet the feast all spread, the courtiers 

Gathered near to greet their new-made king. 

But lo ! when Macbeth would take his 'customed 
seat, another came — 

Banquo's spirit sat there in shadowy form out- 
lined, 

And Macbeth hid his eyes from very fright ! 

And then the cave, 

Where passed Banquo's king descendants! 

And the three Weird Sisters with their lyiug 
charms ! 



30 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 

O why is mortal vision short? 

O woe is me ! woe is me ! 
[Covers face with hands, and each Witch in turn points 
finger at her, and begins a sepulchral tone the incantation.'] 

1st Witch. " Thrice the brinded cat hath 
mewed." 

2d Witch. ' ' Thrice ; and once the hedge-pig 
whined." 

3d Witch. "Harper cries, 'Tis time, 'tis time." 
[All move slowly around the cauldron and stir in it 
with their staves. Lady Macbeth moves to one side.] 

1st Witch. " Round about the cauldron go ; 
In the poisoned entrails throw ; 
Toad, that under coldest stone, 
Days and nights hast thirty-one 
Sweltered venom sleeping got, 
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot. 

2d Witch. " Fillet of a fenny snake, 
In the cauldron boil and bake; 
Eye of newt, and toe of frog, 
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, 
Adder's fork, and blind worm's sting, 
Lizard's leg and owlet's wing, 
For a charm of powerful trouble, 
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble." 

3d Witch. " Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf; 
Witches' mummy ; maw and gulf 
Of the ravined salt-sea shark ; 
Root of hemlock digged i' the dark ; 
Liver of blaspheming Jew ; 
Gall of goat and slips of yew 



SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN. 31 

Slivered in the moon's eclipse; 
Nose of Turk, and Tartar lips ; 
Add there to a tiger's chandron, 
For the ingredients of our cauldon. " 

All. " Double, double toil and trouble; 
Fire, burn, and cauldron, bubble." 

L. Mac. [pointing to Witches]. 

They told in Delphian prophetic style we need 

not fear, 
Till Birnam wood to Dunsinane should come. 
O lying spirits ! Buoyed with empty hope were we, 
But yet enjoyed not kingly honors, 
For conscience sat in her accustomed seat, 
And an avenging fury dwelt above us. 
The storm of wrath was gathering fast, and soon 

it burst ! 
And I, who had nerved Macbeth' s weak arm, 
I, who had been bold beyond a woman's courage, 
I, with a heart of man within a woman's form — 
I, Lady Macbeth, could do no more ! 
Could not see the dreary drama to its end ! 
I, with my own right hand, took my life away ! 
I — O God! [Covers face with hands.] 

Witches. " Double, double toil and trouble; 
Fire, burn, and cauldron, bubble." 

Curtain. 

[The curtain may then rise upon the folloiving 
of . all the characters, a calcium light being effective.] 



32 SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE'S WOMEN 

Front of Stage. 
Prologue. 
* 

Ophelia. 

Desdemona. Ariel. 

Cordelia. Lady Macbeth. Miranda. 

Portia. Katharine. 

* * 

Juliet. 

* * * 

Witches. 

Rear of Stage. 
Prologue kneels on left knee, points with right hand 
to the whole group, looks to audience. 

Desdemona reclines on couch set at angle to front of 
stage; head toward Prologue. 

Cordelia stands directly behind Desdemona, with 
hands raised to heaven. 

Portia stands looks left, book in right arm ; head erect. 
Juliet sits at raised balcony at rear and at angle to 
front ; looks down. 

Katharine stands with arms outstretched in imperi- 
ous manner, head brought well back. 

Miranda sits on grassy mound, looking down to left 
at Ariel, who reclines at Miranda t s feet, head toward 
Ophelia, looks up at Miranda. 

)phelia kneels on left knee, looks to left, and holds 
trers extended in left hand. 

Lady Macbeth stands to right, face buried in hands; 
Witches stand in semicircle, each pointing at her. 



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